From despair to hope: copying of relatives of hospitalized children before bad news report

Cabeça, Luciana Palacio Fernandes; Melo, Luciana de Lione

doi:10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0340

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to understand the experiences of relatives of critically ill children before bad news report.

Method:

a phenomenological study based on Heidegger’s philosophical framework. Data collection was carried out from October 2018 to March 2019, through phenomenological interviews with 15 relatives of children hospitalized in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Results:

relatives, in their existentiality, experience the facticity thrown into unpredictable situations, regardless of their choices and are faced with feelings of shock, despair and fear before bad news. After emotional impact, especially regarding the possibility of death, relatives reveal hope as a mechanism for coping with the situation.

Final considerations:

solidarity and sensitivity by health professionals, especially nurses, are essential in understanding the existential dimension of relatives who experience such an experience, understanding the several facets of their existence and offering them opportunities to project themselves.

Descriptors:
Communication; Hope; Relatives; Child, Hospitalized; Qualitative Research

[1] Corresponding author: Luciana Palacio Fernandes Cabeça. E-mail: cabeclp@gmail.com

Name	Age	Kinship	Child's age	Reason for hospitalization	Number of hospitalizations in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit	Days of hospitalization on the date of the interview
1. Roberta	52	Grandmother	9 months	Digestive surgery	First	2 months
2. Keila	40	Grandmother	2 years	Polytrauma	First	19 days
3. Sandra	21	Mother	2 years	Polytrauma	First	1 month
4. Carla	41	Mother	1year	Myoclonus	First	1 month
5. Bianca	51	Grandmother	1 year	Drowning	First	16 days
6. Almira	22	Mother	4 months	Cardiac surgery	First	21 days
7. Ivina	26	Mother	3 months	Biliary Atresia	Second	15 days
8. Amanda	42	Mother	6 months	Cardiac surgery	First	2 months
9. Alba	31	Mother	2 months	Meningitis	First	15 days
10. João	32	Father	2 months	Cardiac surgery	First	8 days
11. Dora	19	Mother	3 months	Meningitis	Second	1 month
12. George	34	Father	5 months	Meningitis	Second	5 days
13. Álvaro	42	Father	7 months	Biliary Atresia	Second	10 days
14. Aline	28	Aunt	4 months	Metabolic syndrome	First	5 days
15. Gisele	36	Mother	4 months	Hydrocephalus	Second	2 months

Brasil